I. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the present invention relate to lost and found systems. Particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to a system and method for identifying and recovering lost personal property. More particularly, embodiments of the present, invention relate to a method and system for use over a wide geographical area for a substantial variety of personal electronics devices.
II. Discussion of Related Art
A lost and found is a large public building or area where visitors can go to retrieve lost articles being found by other visitors. Frequently found at museums, amusement parks and schools, a lost and found will typically be a clearly-marked box or room in a location near the main entrance.
Some lost and found offices will try to contact the owners of any lost items if there are any personal identifiers available. Practically all will sell, give, or throw away items after a certain period has passed to clear their storage.
The first lost and found office was organized in Paris in 1805. Napoleon ordered his prefect of police to establish it as a central place “to collect all objects found in the streets of Paris”, according to Jean-Michel Ingrandt, who was appointed the office's director in 2001. However, it was not until 1893 Louis Lepine, then prefect of police, organized efforts to actively track down the owners of lost items.
Lost and found offices at large organizations can handle a large and varied collection of articles. Transport for London's lost property offices (which handle items lost on the city's Tube, buses, and taxis) handles over 130,000 items a year; including 24,000 bags, and 10,000 mobile phones. Among the more peculiar items handed include a wedding dress, ashes in an urn, a longcase clock, a kitchen sink, and several wheelchairs.
Each year millions of people lose millions of personal and business items they wish they could have returned to them. Although someone usually finds many of these lost items, they are often not returned to their original owners for a variety of reasons. Such reasons include: the fact the items themselves are often not marked with information clearly identifying the owner, or how the item can be returned to the owner; there is usually ho clearly identifiable incentive for any finder to return the items; and there is no easy mechanism for a Finder to return the item to its original owner and redeem an incentive. Most people would wish to have any item they own returned to them in the event of a loss. One obvious reason for this is they do not want to go through the expense of having to replace the lost item. Even if they have sufficient insurance to cover the physical cost of goods, (which is not always the case), there is still the significant time, effort and inconvenience involved in having to find and shop for a replacement item, contact the insurance company and complete the insurance claims process, and hope to receive fair value from the insurers. In addition, many business and personal items have significant hidden value to their owners well in excess of the item's physical replacement value. For example, a laptop computer or personal organizer filled with data the owner forgot to “back-up” has a value to owner well in excess of its simple replacement value.
There are some existing systems providing a way for return of lost items. One such system used in England provides for the return of lost keys. The owner of the keys buys a policy from the key registry system and is given a tag with a number on it can be attached to the keys of the policyholder. When the keys are lost a person finding them returns them to a local police station. The police then inform the key registry system they have a set of lost keys; the key registry matches them with the number in their system of a policyholder of the key registry according to the matched number. The key registry then picks up the keys and returns them to the owner, instructs the police to whom to return the keys, or informs the policyholder where to reclaim their keys, and also pays the person who found the keys a small reward.
A number of other systems have been proposed for the return of lost property under certain circumstances. One such system provides for the placing of a tag on an item of personal property, which asks anyone finding the item to take it to a specific package delivery system. If the personal property is lost and then turned into the package delivery system the package delivery system can electronically read identifying information on the tag and thereby identify the owner and send it back to the owner. The owner then pays the fee required for its return. Another system provides a two-part tag an owner of personal property can purchase from a central registry. The owner puts one of the tags on the item of personal property and retains the other in a safe place for future reference. The portion of the tag on the personal property asks anyone finding it to call the central registry and leave a telephone message with the tag number who they are and how the owner can recover the lost item from the finder. The message left by the finder of the lost article is identified by the number on the tag the finder has been instructed to enter during the call. The owner of the lost item calls the central registry and inputs the identifying tag number and can pick up the call left by the finder of the lost item and from the information left make contact with the finder for return of the item.
A number of other systems exist providing for the return of lost personal property. However, all of these systems including those described above suffer from a number of deficiencies making them uneconomical and not suited for today's world. While some may provide for anonymity and all provide for a way of identifying the lost item none are adaptable to a cover a large area such as the entire United States or other large geographical areas. A person traveling on a long trip may take off in a plane from one airport and pass through several airports before reaching their final destination. If they lose an item on the trip they might not be able to place the exact spot he or she lost the item. Thus, if one loses a personal computer in the main airport in Atlanta while traveling from Philadelphia to Denver he or she will generally never see it again or when they do receive it, it will be after a long delay and the computer typically will be damaged, etc. Even if the item is identified there might not be any incentive, or any easy way for the finder to determine the value of the incentive, or easy means of returning it to the owner. Also there is no way for the owner to increase the incentive in quickly in order to increase the chance of a finder returning the item, and for the finder to quickly determine the increased incentive. All of the existing systems lack the ability to provide a quick and easy means for the owner and person finding the item to quickly make contact and easily return the item while providing the person finding the lost item with some type of assurance they will receive something for their effort. Additionally, none really provide a general-purpose asset registry handling a large variety of types of personal property.
Thus, what is needed is a system and method providing for the safe and expeditious return of lost personal property, especially lost or stolen electronics devices. A system allowing the owner of the personal property to remain anonymous to the finder of the lost item but still providing an incentive to return the lost item in the form of a reward paid to the finder of the lost item. Such a system should also provide for some way of assuring the return of the lost item in a relatively undamaged state. Additionally, such a system must be flexible and allow for user interaction and be capable of functioning effectively over an extremely large geographic area.